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I am not a bad person." Howard said, doubt in his own voice.
"Yes. Yes you are." Dr. Ivchenko stood up.
"It is the only way to achieve such a remarkable success. Others have paid the price. You have paid the price as well. Your guilt eats you, destroys you from the inside out." He locked eyes with Howard, casually rotating his ring.
"Yes. Yes." Howard whispered, his eyes glazing over, caught in the spell.
"Focus. There may still be a way to atone for your sins. Simply focus. Go back in your mind. To a time and place that holds your greatest shame. And simply focus. What would you change if you could?"
A landscape of white appeared before him. Snow hit his face, and he felt the stings of cold, but his body was warm.
"Mr Stark. Mr Stark!" A man's voice called out. He turned towards it and found a pilot running over from his plane.
"We picked up a signal from the Valkyrie! We think it might be Rogers. Sir. We found Captain America."
"Howard." He turned to find Peggy.
"Peg? Is this real?" He asked, still unsure of what was happening.
She held up Cap's shield in one hand, it's colors vibrant against the white snow. In the other, she had April's gun, shining beautifully like new.
"Bring them home."
He was flying over the frozen wastelands, tracking the signal of the Valkyrie.
"Visibility: ½ in snow. Signal is still holding strong, changing course to bearing 2-6-9."
"Focus Howard, you are doing very well." said Fennhoff.
Howard could feel nothing but gratitude for the man who helped him find Cap.
"Howa -isn- real!" He frowned, must have been some radio static.
"Dropping to 2,000 feet." He reported.
"Howard it's Peggy."
He smiled. "Peg! I found the signal! I'm almost there."
"No, you must listen to me."
"I'm gonna bring them home Peg."
"Fennhoff has put this fantasy in your mind. He's trying to get you to deploy the gas over civilians."
Howard was confused, Fennhoff just gave him something to melt the ice away.
"Don't worry about that Peg." He looked over the frozen ocean. "There are no civilians where I am."
"Howard, can you hear me? You must come back."
Why would he come back now? When he was so close?
"I know this sounds crazy, but that... that guy, Fennhoff, he actually helped me. He... he showed me how to do this. I'm bringing Cap and April back, Peg."
"Howard, turn the plane around. Come back, and we'll talk about it."
Why couldn't Peg see that he was so close to bringing them back? That he could do something right for a change? He read Erskine's notes, they could still be alive. He could be with April again and she could be with Steve.
"I can't do that. Done talking."
"N-no... wait. Howard. Howard. Steve and April are gone. They died over a year ago."
"There's something up ahead! It's them! I can fix this!"
"You dont have to fix anything."
"Peg, all I've done my whole life is create destruction. Project REBIRTH was... he was the one thing I've done that brought good into this world. And she was the only person that made me feel like I could be someone better."
"Howard. I know you loved her. I loved Steve. We cared for both of them so much. But this won't bring them back. Howard, you are the one person on this Earth who believes in me I cannot lose you. Steve and April are gone. We have to move on. All of us. As impossible as that may sound, we have to let them go."
A tear ran down his face. Peggy was right. He had to accept it.
"Peg? He was good before I got a hold of him huh? And she loved me for me?"
"Yes, yes he was. And of course she did. Where are you?"
He blinked, and suddenly the pure white landscape turned into the dark, dotted lights of the city.
"Evidently flying a plane. To Manhattan. I guess you can explain that to me once I land."
As Howard arrived back at his mansion after destroying his most dangerous weapons, he grabbed a glass of whiskey. He had given Jarvis the rest of the day off while he went to pick something up.
He carefully pulled out a trunk from underneath his bed, pulling it up by the fireplace. He then brought over a slightly large briefcase, this one just recently made to his specifications. He ran his thumb over the newly engraved "AR" before unlocking it and transferring the contents of the trunk into the case.